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Hajj: an inner call to all (Part 2)

July 25, 2017

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(This is part of the series Hajj: The Inner Journey updating daily on Sheikh’s Telegram Channel @haj1438)

“And announce the intention (of attaining to God) inside the people (to their innate nature)…” (22:27)

So far we have established that although there exists a superficial and historic narrative to this verse, the esoteric aspect relates to the ingrained yearning to God that resides in the innate nature of all people.

How do people react to this call towards absolute perfection (God)?

The verse reads:

“And announce the intention (of attaining to God) inside the people (to their innate nature), that will come to you by foot; and (others) on thin camels from every distant place” (22:27)

If we limit ourselves to the exoteric narrative, the verse loses it’s application for us today who travel neither by foot not by camel. What is the batini inner meaning of this verse.

According to mystics, the Quran mentions two groups of pilgrims as models for future pilgrims like us.

Coming towards the inner call by foot alludes to the spiritual traveller who journeys to God with ease and steadfastness without being preoccupied with any traces of the ego. Such people have fulfilled the necessary prerequisites for becoming a pilgrim i.e. eliminating all traces of the ego. They can walk the walk and talk the talk. What seems to be a most difficult journey to others, is one of verve and ecstasy to them.

The second group are travellers who are still afflicted with ego-related challenges albeit suppressed to a significant degree. The soul of such people are like thin and lean camels i.e. by means of lengthy disciplinary shariah measures, they have mortified their ego to a respectable degree in their journey that started from afar in the realm of worldliness and the worldly life and they have travelled through the valleys and deserts of hardship from such a worldly realm to the divine, like thin camels. They are not as perfect as the initial group, but it’s a pass, not a fail.

The fail applies to the majority of Pilgrims who were described as having animalistic souls, by successors of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

We are approaching the 1st of Thil-Qa’dah.

This is the start of the Mosaic Retreat in Mount Tur. After 40 days, Prophet Moses celebrated his communion with God. These 40 days are celebrated by mystics and the last ten are celebrated by all Muslims. Eid on the 10th Thil-Hijjah is the 40th day itself and we too have the potential to attain to divine communion via 40 days of spiritual wayfaring.

There are common and specific etiquettes to observe. In general those actions that are prescribed in the Ramadani Retreat are recommended here too and they include:

1. Fasting where feasible 2. Reading one part of the Quran (20 pages) per day, or less of This is not feasible. 3. Seeking forgiveness

The last ten days of the 40-day retreat has it’s own specific etiquettes that we shall discuss later, inshallah.